Citi Bike: New Yorkers Weigh In

Bike share programs have been around for a minute in European, South American and Asian cities, and just recently American cities are getting on board with the idea. In 2010, the first bike share programs in the States started, and now programs are popping up in a number of cities across the country, including Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston. Being the “Greatest City in the World,” it’s about time that NYC joined this growing number of cities initiating bike share programs with the official launch of Citi Bike in May 2013, bringing 300 stations to Manhattan and Brooklyn.

By now, you’ve probably seen the bright blue cruiser bikes branded with the “Citi” logo all over the City, either parked at their hubs where precious car parking once was or being rode by New Yorkers and tourists alike. The bikes have only three speeds so riding over a bridge on a Citi Bike may be out of the question for some. Everyone who rides them won’t have to worry about not being seen by cars or people since they all have flashing front and rear LED lights whenever you’re moving. There’s also a convenient bag frame and bungee cord by the handlebars so you can secure and store your stuff, and if you need information about where stations are located and if bikes are available, they’ve got an app for that.

With the MTA consistently jacking up their fares, the Citi Bike program offers what seems to be a convenient way to get around the City at pretty affordable rates. Of course, plenty of people have been hating on the program from the jump, but clearly there’s also a good amount of riders who are down to give it a chance. Now that it’s been in existence for a couple of months, we wanted to find out how people really feel about Citi Bike, so we hit the streets to get reactions from NYC’s new bike sharing community.